W.J. Astore
The Biden Administration Embraces War and Israel
Remarkably, the press secretary of the Biden administration stated that calls for deescalation of conflict in Gaza, calls for restraint, calls for a ceasefire, are “disgraceful” and “repugnant.” There are not two sides to the conflict, the press secretary said. There’s only the Israeli side of righteousness. And Israel must be given a blank check, as well as plenty of U.S. weaponry, to strike back. And so Israel has, dropping 6000 bombs in six days. Obviously, Israel had a prepared list of targets; you don’t drop one thousand bombs a day on Gaza in “precision” strikes without being long prepared to do so.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said he had seen photos of Hamas attackers beheading Israeli babies. No such photos exist. Indeed, the initial claim of Hamas beheading babies was false, a frontline rumor that was debunked by the reporter who put it out there.
By recklessly repeating an unsubstantiated battlefield rumor of heinous atrocities and inventing “photos” to support it, President Biden demonstrated his complete lack of fitness to serve as president.
Think about it. In what world is it acceptable for America’s president to claim he’d seen actual photos of beheadings of babies when no such photos exist? How could the president be so recklessly confused, assuming it was simply confusion?
As far as I know, the only candidate for the presidency in 2024 who’s acquitted himself with dignity is Cornel West. West actually accepts that Palestinian babies and children are just as precious and worthy of life as their Israeli counterparts. Every other “name” candidate, e.g. Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as all the Republicans, are at pains to support Israel without reservation or qualification.
Indeed, far more debate is allowed in Israel about the actions of the government there than is allowed in the U.S. mainstream media and in Congress. Congress is far more obedient to Netanyahu than the Knesset. Perhaps he should be nominated as the new House Speaker? He’d win in a landslide.
Of course, I deplore the Hamas attacks and the deaths of innocent Israelis, just as I deplore the deaths of innocent Palestinians caught in the reprisal bombings. It’s horrible when innocent people die. Isn’t this how any normal and sane human being would feel? Shouldn’t we all unite in calling for a ceasefire, an end to the killing, and some kind of way forward that doesn’t end in mass death and the total destruction of Gaza?
What is so “repugnant” about that?
Bracing Views 
The contention that it is righteous and obligatory to kill people is what’s morally repugnant. No confusion on that account. Of course, there is no arguing with or convincing people who are criminally insane. Excessively long line of those folks throughout history. Why should our leaders be any different? (Don’t answer that.)
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I have often thought of Gaza in terms of the Warsaw Ghetto in WWII. I did not realize until very recently that the Palestinians, maybe especially Hamas, paid tribute to that place and to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. It makes me think that this attack by Hamas on Israel is, in a sense, a bow to the Jews of Warsaw who rose up against the Nazis in 1943. It is worth looking up Marek Edelman, who died in 2009, still in Poland. (use several sources)
Edelman was a leader of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, barely escaping death, and then in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, again, barely escaping death. Most of those in each of the uprising were killed, either directly, by artillery, guns and fire (at least half the Ghetto deaths were burn deaths when the Nazis set fire to the Ghetto). (Note: neither of those uprisings attacked German civilians, but of course they were in Warsaw.)
Later he stated, “We knew perfectly well that we had no chance of winning. We fought simply not to allow the Germans alone to pick the time and place of our deaths. We knew we were going to die. Just like all the others who were sent to Treblinka …. It was easier to die fighting …”
His wife, Alina Margolis, was also a Ghetto fighter. They married in 1945. They were both doctors. He was a cardiologist. Alina was a pediatrician and would be one of the founders of Médecins du Monde (“Doctors of the World”) in 1980 (not to be confused with with Médecins Sans Frontières (founded 1971) whose policy of not aiding the Vietnamese boat refugees led to “du Monde.” The Irony being that Médecins Sans Frontières is in the crosshairs on the ground in Gaza).
Marek Edelman was an anti-Zionist and refused to relocate to Palestine after WWII. He was roundly criticized for that stance by Jews who favored Israel’s creation and oppression, and slow moving genocide (i.e. terms such as “mowing the lawn”) of Palestinians though most call it only apartheid or ethnic cleansing because it is just enough to not cause too much notice each time, though the Zionists’ objective since its founding in the late 1800’s was eventual total removal of the native population of Palestine and replacement with Jews from around the world.
In the 2002 Israeli show trial of Marwan Barghouti, Marek Edelman, wrote a letter in support of the Palestinians. Though he also criticized suicide bombers Israel’s press and government were furious. Edelman resented Israel’s claim on the Ghetto Uprising as Jewish liberation. What really got them angry was that he said this symbol (now) belonged to Palestinians.
Closing (a bit long, sorry): At the end of WWII 90-percent of Poland’s 3.3-million Jews were dead. Perhaps, if the current statements by Israeli top ministers are to be taken at face value, they really mean to mow 90-percent of the lawn this time.
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Also, should look up Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, UK labour representative and co-founder of Jewish Voice for Labour.
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Thank you for this succinct and wonderfully thought out post. I did not know that so far Cornel West is the only “name” candidate for President who is not joining the bandwagon of false righteousness re Israel..So far he is the only candidate that I will vote for.
I also feel grateful that you said what I think and feel about Biden. He is not fit to be President for numerous reasons, and lying about photos showing Hamas beheading babies is beyond belief. (I did not know he actually did that, so thank you for informing me. )
Your eloquent post brought tears to my eyes.
Thank you again.
Helen Londe
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Yes to all those like yourself who have pointed out Joe Biden’s unfitness to hold high office in the United States due to his slanderous shilling of Zionist “atrocity porn” — “beheaded babies,” “rapes,” etc. But we should also recall former U.S. President George H. W. Bush shamelessly peddling the tale of Iraqi soldiers taking Kuwaiti babies from their incubators and throwing them on the ground — on the authority of the Kuwaiti Ambassador’s daughter testifying before our gullible, war-hungry U.S. Congress. So, as it turns out, the senile plagiarist Joe Biden can’t even claim that his despicable canards represent the slightest originality. Just the same pious platitudes the world has come to expect from America now.
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